Catfish skinning and cleaning clamp



Nov. 28, 1950 B. J. ANDERSON 2,531,546

CATFISH SKINNING AND CLEANING CLAMP Filed July 18, 1947 I11 -m II! I IIIIIIIIIIAE I I I I In 1 M 4' L 2;: -L l Ben/z arfcfflnaieraon Patented Nov. 28, 1950 TED STATES FATE? OFFHCE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine useful in dressing catfish, the object of the machine being to provide means for clamping the fish securely in convenient position for separating the backbone and edible portion from the head, skin and entrails, It is a further object of this invention to provide a machine which is inexpensively made and which is extremely durable. A still further object is to permit clamping and removing the catfish from the machine rapidly so that an experienced operator can perform the entire operation of clamping the fish, killing it, separating the edible portion and discarding the remaining portion in less than one minute.

These objects are accomplished by my novel machine which may best be understood by reierence to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view showing a catfish clamped in the machine, and also showing by the dotted lines the position of the various parts 3 when the machine is opened,

Figure 2 is a longitudinalsection taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a side elevation, viewing the machine from the right hand side as .shown in Figures l and 2,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1, which illustrates the sliding catch,

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken along the line 55 in Figure 1.

The machine consists essentially of a base I, a fish support 2 and a sliding catch 3, each of which is attached to or positioned by various ac cessory elements. The base I is a fiat rectangular metal plate having an upturned flange 4% along one long edge. This flange acts as one side of the clamp which holds the catfish. The base is tapped to receive machine screws 5, 6, l and 8, as well as the pin 9.

The fish support 2 is a flat, roughly wedgeshaped part which has an upturned flange l0 along one long edge, which serves as the other fish clamping member. A slot 1 i is out near and parallel to the short edge of the support to the base but permitting sliding and pivotal motion about the-screw 6. A spring I 2 is attached to machine screw 5 in the base and to a hole iii in the flange it of the support. This spring tends to make the support occupy the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 1 when the machine is open, in which case the pin 9 serves as a stop, and exerts clamping pressure on the catfish when the machine is closed.

The sliding catch 3 is a flat, elongated piece of metal, tapering at one end and having each end turned up to form a lug M which serves as a handle and a narrower lug [5 which serves as a stop for the support 2. The catch contains a central longitudinal slot it, through which passes the machine screw 8 before engaging the base. The screw 1 is positioned adjacent to the edge of the catch and, together with the flange 4 of the base, acts as a guide and restricts the motion of the catch to aback and forth sliding motion on screw 8. It will be apparent that when the catch is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lug l5 bears against the flange H] and prevents the fish support 2 from being pulled by the tension of spring 52 into the open position. When the catch is drawn out to the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure l, the support 2 is released and rotated by the spring tension until the flange l0 strikes the pin '9, when the support will occupy the position shown by the dotted lines.

In using the machine to dress a catfish, the fish, represented by the numeral l! in Figure 1, is laid back up on the support with its tail extending an inch or so beyond the end of the support. The support is then rotated to the closed position and clamped by pushing in the sliding catch. The tension of the spring then holds the fish securely between the flanges of the support and of the base respectively.

To dress the fish, a transverse out about two thirds of the way across the fishs back just above the dorsal fin is first made, using a sharp knife. The cut is made deep enough to sever the backbone, thus killing the fish. In making this cut, care should be exercised not to cut the skin beyond the back of the fish, as the skin will tear if the cut extends to the sides of the fish. The next step is to make two cuts, beginning at the edges of the first cut and meeting just behind the dorsal fin, forming a triangle. It desired, the fin may then be cut ofi. A cut is then made starting in the center of the fish's back, at the intersection of the two diagonal cuts, and extending down the center of the back the entire length of the fish. Next the knife blade is inserted into the first cut deeply enough to enable the operator to catch the severed end of the backbone between the knife blade and his thumb. The backbone, with meat attached is then pulled out of the fish, leaving only the head, skin, entrails and tail still clamped in the machine. The inedible residue is dumped out of the machine and it is then ready for use on another catfish.

If i d si able to construct the machine out of aluminum or stainless steel, although any other non-rusting or rust resistant metal may be used. To assist in holding the fish in the machine, it is sometimes advisable to provide spaced apertures in the flanges of the base and of the support for inserting the pectoral fins of the catfish. By having several such apertures spaced along the flanges, fish of various sizes may easily be accommodated in the machine.

It will be obvious that numerous minor varia- 1' tions, such as substituting fixed pins or bolts for the machine screws or of putting legs under the base, and so on, may be made in this machine without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be understood to be limited only as is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A catfish dressing machine which comprises in combination a base containing a clamping member, a fish support moveably attached to said base and containing a second clamping member, means for detachably holdin the support in clamping relation with the base, and spring means operating to compress the clamping members together when the detachable holding means is operative.

2. A catfish dressing machine which comprises in combination a base plate having one edge turned up to form a flange, a fish support moveably attached to said base plate and also having an upturned edge forming a flange, means for detachably holding the support in a position wherein the flanges are in fish clamping relation to one another, and spring means operating to compress the flanges together when the detachable holding means is operative.

3. A catfish dressing machine which comprises in combination a flat base plate having one edge upturned to form a flange which serves as a jaw for clamping the catfish; a flat plate serving as a support for the fish, said plate being moveably attached to the base plate and having its edge opposite to the base flange upturned to form a flange which serves as the other jaw for clamping the catfish; means for detachably holding the support plate in a position wherein the flanges are in fish clamping relation to one another; and spring means operating to compress the flanges together when the detachable holding means is operative.

4. A catfish dressing machine which comprises in combination a flat base plate having one edge upturned to form a flange which serves as a jaw for clamping the catfish; a fiat plate serving as a support for the fish, said plate being attached to and horizontally moveable with respect to the base plate, and having its edge opposite to the base flange upturned to form a flange which serves as the other jaw for clamping the catfish; a catch slideably attached to the base plate and adapted to engage detachably one end of the support flange and to hold the support plate in a position wherein the flanges are in fish clamping relation to one another; and a spring connecting the other end of the support flange to the base plate and operating to compress the flanges together when the catch is engaged.

5. A catfish dressing machine adapted to hold the fish securely during the dressing operation which comprises in combination: a flat rectangular base plate having one longitudinal edge upturned to form a flange which serves as a jaw in clamping the catfish; a flat, relatively narrow, wedge-shaped plate serving as a support for the fish, said plate having a slot adjacent and parallel to its short side, through which passes a screw attached to the base plate, by which the support plate is moveably attached to the base plate, said support plate having its long edge farthest removed from the base flange upturned to form a flange which serves as the other jaw in clamping the catfish; a catch slideably attached to the base plate and adapted to engage detachably the end of the support flange at the point of the wedge and to hold it in narrowly spaced relationship with the base flange; and a spring connecting the other end of the support flange to the base plate and operating to compress the flanges together when the catch is engaged.

BENHART J. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,521,472 Philippe, Sr Dec. 30, 1924 2,313,397 Rodriguez Mar. 9, 1943 

